


a second thing, following a second set of rules

by Losha



Series: the language of lions [3]
Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen, Minor Canonical Character(s), Now get ready for FOUR (well... three...) Heirs and a Spare, POV Iemitsu, Picks up directly after the last part, Sawada Iemitsu's A+ Parenting, Yes let's write That Guy That Nobody Likes, You've heard of An Heir and a Spare, sounds fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-12
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-26 11:54:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15662727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Losha/pseuds/Losha
Summary: Sawada Iemitsu is 29 and the newly appointed boss of the CEDEF when the heirs of Vongola spread his secret family across a table and discuss his son’s life like it’s an unwanted puppy.He is 29 and the newly appointed boss of the CEDEF when the boss of Vongola protects his son with lies and disinterest and suspiciously impeccable timing. Iemitsu loves him for it.Iemitsu hates him for it.Or,The External Advisor is meant to be neutral. Iemitsu can't have Don Timoteo protecting his son.





	a second thing, following a second set of rules

**Author's Note:**

> _It wasn’t there but it remained, looked like the thing but wasn’t the thing—was a second thing, following a second set of rules—and it was too late: their power over it was no longer absolute._ \- Richard Siken, _The Language of Birds_

Sawada Iemitsu is 29 and the newly appointed boss of the CEDEF when the heirs of Vongola spread his secret family across a table and discuss his son’s life like it’s an unwanted puppy.

He is 29 and the newly appointed boss of the CEDEF when the boss of Vongola protects his son with lies and disinterest and suspiciously impeccable timing. Iemitsu loves him for it.

Iemitsu hates him for it.

The Ninth has had his loyalties for so long that Iemitsu is grateful that he reigned his boys in over the matter of Tsuna - but the boss of the CEDEF can’t have his family held over his head like this, shouldn’t step into the position with this kind of debt forming.

He’s the External Advisor. He’s meant to work with Don Timoteo, yes, but he’s meant to be neutral. He has to be neutral. And now he isn’t. Can’t be. Not now that it’s Don Timoteo’s word keeping little Sawada Tsunayoshi safe in Namimori. 

How well the Ninth played him. Iemitsu has to laugh a little in appreciation as the boardroom empties out, Saffron being the last of them as he claps Iemitsu on the shoulder and wishes him well. It’s a final show of faith from his old mentor on his way out, and Iemitsu nods, remembers to breathe. Soon it is only Iemitsu, Don Timoteo, and Coyote.

“Have a seat, Iemitsu,” the Ninth says as Coyote lays the earlier photographs back down. “Let’s have a chat.”

Right, a chat. The boss of the CEDEF is supposed to be neutral, but Don Timoteo neatly made sure he couldn’t be. Iemitsu, therefore, has to not only figure out how to fix this, but also keep from pissing off the big boss while he does it. Oh, and keep his family safe.

“Yeah,” he says, grinning openly now because this is a _test_ and, god help him, he _likes_ this kind of rock-and-hard-place scenario, “I think we’d better.” 

~*~

They chat. They argue. They cheerfully insult one another while feeling each other out.

In the end, they come to an agreement.

Don Timoteo’s earlier protection will only account for his heirs: Enrico, Massimo, Federico, and Xanxus. He will request that they forget about Tsunayoshi and his mother, but he will make no effort to protect the Sawada family further. Anyone they have already told, anyone who knows already, anyone who finds out - that is Iemitsu’s problem to deal with. The biggest threat to an External Advisor’s family has always been their famiglia. It is Iemitsu’s duty, as the one who chose to go ahead and form said family, to figure out how to protect them from that threat.

But Don Timoteo will not ask anything of his sons for free. (Nothing in the mafia world is free.)

And Iemitsu will not let Don Timoteo close enough to check Tsunayoshi’s Flame type for free. (Even if he doesn’t seem to have a bargaining chip, Iemitsu knows you must _always_ have something to bargain with.)

They barter, back and forth, until finally they settle on new terms. Shake on it. And part ways.

Within the week, they leave for Japan, where Tsunayoshi is tested, confirmed to have Sky flames, and promptly Sealed.

Don Timoteo is satisfied. Iemitsu is satisfied.

Because while it is Enrico, wittingly, willingly, who endangered Tsunayoshi, it is also Enrico, unwittingly, unwillingly, who protects him now from his brothers.

“It is not enough,” Don Timoteo tells his bewildered, offended sons when he returns from Japan, “to be strong in the present. Vongola must look to the future. And its leader must ensure that there _is_ a future for Vongola. Iemitsu Sawada has begun the next generation, though he is of Giotto‘s line. If any of you wish to take offense at that, then know that I will not tolerate meddling from any of you in regards to the boy. Focus on Vongola, on its future, and continue Ricardo’s line. I have told you before - _brothers are not enough_. Only the next generation will ensure our survival. If none of you can manage even that, then I see no reason not to keep the boy in reserve.”

It’s such a simple measure to protect Tsuna from his Italian cousins - and yet within the mafia it is the simplest things that decide life or death. If he doesn’t speak of them or visit more than could be excused as him paying respects to the dead, then Iemitsu’s little family in Japan is safe. If the heirs to Vongola don’t sire the next generation, then the one child of the next generation who _does_ exist is safe.

And Enrico, most qualified, most likely to inherit, short tempered Enrico who pointed Xanxus Tsunayoshi’s way… Enrico will lay with no woman and so will never manage.

Massimo, the second best choice, loves only one, a Rain who won’t leave her Sky for the marriage bed, and to whom Massimo swore steadfastness and fidelity.

Federico, favorite son of the Ninth, desires neither man nor woman. He won't fall prey to a lust he doesn't have.

And Xanxus is young, too young, and too foul tempered besides. Only the bravest look his way, and he looks back with only scorn.

Four sons of Vongola - no offspring in sight. All of them spoiled, all of them unwilling to ever do what they don’t want for the sake of what they have faith will be theirs if they but wait. And one little boy who they can’t touch until they offer up an alternative. A simple defense, but one that Iemitsu, as head of the CEDEF and all its secret knowledge, is willing to gamble on.

~*~

Don Timoteo leaves Japan satisfied with this: Tsunayoshi has Sky flames and Tsunayoshi is Sealed. He is no threat to the sons of Vongola.

Iemitsu returns to Italy satisfied with this: Don Timoteo needs the next generation of Vongola to be brought into the world, but he has four sons who will not deliver. They are a threat to the future of Vongola. But, Iemitsu reminds him slyly, Tsunayoshi has Sky flames and Tsunayoshi can be Unsealed.

His son, safe and sound and unaware of what awaits him outside of Namimori, will be the trump card of Vongola if Don Timoteo’s sons fail.

Iemitsu returns to CEDEF headquarters and wonders not if, but _when_.

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty short, and not the thing I set out to write today, but oh well. I start a new job tomorrow, so short it is. Thank you for reading!


End file.
